China's IT industry is expected to see a sales revenue of 2.68 trillion yuan (US$322.3 billion) in 2004, up 42.3 per cent year-on-year, becoming the country's leading driver for economic growth, MII(Ministry of Information Industry) sources indicate.

The industry's added value is expected to hit 578 billion yuan (US$69.6 billion) for the entire 2003, up 44.5 per cent. Tax revenue is expected to reach 143.1 billion yuan (US$17.2 billion), up 37.9 per cent; and exports totalling to US$180 billion, roughly 34 per cent of country's total exports.

According to statistics for the first three quarters of 2004, sales income of China's IT industry totalled 1.88 trillion yuan (US$226.5 billion), up 40 per cent from the same period in 2003, and the industry's added value rose 40.5 per cent to 363.2 billion yuan (US$43.8 billion).

An Internet veteran, China SEO Mail cn2world@sohu.com